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Press Release

Boise Man Pleads Guilty In Federal Court To Unlawfully Possessing Firearms

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Idaho

BOISE – Jason Earl Wright, 39, of Boise, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

According to court records, in June 2013, Wright attempted to purchase a scope for an AK-47 advertised on Craigslist. The seller, an Idaho Department of Correction Probation and Parole Officer, discovered that on December 19, 2006, Wright was convicted of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, a felony with a term of imprisonment exceeding one year. Wright was contacted by an undercover law enforcement agent regarding the transaction, after which Wright agreed to trade ammunition and a gun safe for the rifle scope. Based on conversations between the agent and Wright, a federal search warrant was obtained and executed at Wright’s Boise residence on June 27, 2013. Before serving the warrant, the undercover agent arranged to meet with Wright to complete the trade. Wright’s vehicle was subsequently stopped by Ada County Sheriff’s Office deputies. Wright was found to be in possession of 13 rounds of ammunition. Law enforcement recovered 14 firearms and over 2,000 rounds of ammunition at Wright’s residence.

Wright faces up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

Sentencing is set for January 23, 2014, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Ada County Sheriff’s Office, and Boise Police Department.

Wright was prosecuted as part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.

Updated December 15, 2014

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